Bloomberg's Double Standard On Mixing Games With Work
from the solitaire-or-golf? dept
theodp writes "As reported earlier on Techdirt, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg considers mixing Solitaire and business a fireable offense for government workers. But mixing golf and government business is apparently A-OK, at least if the Mayor jets you down to his Bermuda hideaway for some R&R. Ironically, the Solitaire-playing worker's duties at the time of his firing included picking up tickets for Bloomberg to attend Bermuda golfing buddy Gov. George Pataki's State-of-the-State message."
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in thread ]
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in thread ]
The Real Test
[ link to this | view in thread ]
wait wait wait...
Aw crap... dripped sarcasm all over my keyboard. Damn.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: wait wait wait...
Anyway, I just think that it'd be amusing if the rest of the world caught wind of this and condemned them for it... At least if it got the guy's job back.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Isn't the Mayor allowed weekends off?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Solitaire vs Golf`
[ link to this | view in thread ]
obviously
But it's New York City for godsakes; work in that corrupt environment, what the hell does one expect?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Solitaire vs Golf`
I have to agree. Seems like a lot of commentors are being fairly naive about this. Heads of companies and politicians don't sit in front of a computer and tap out memos and e-mails all day, everyday, that's not the nature of their job. A lot of their job IS going to what we peons would call social functions, and doing business. It's a tradeoff, in return for being able to take 2 hour lunches for clients and stuff like that, CEO's and politicians get the wonderful burden of being on call 24 hours a day.
Like I said, I think some of the commentors are being a bit naive to the way the real world works. We'd like to think everything was egalitarian, but it's not. The truth is, with greater rank/position comes less constraint to regulations that bound others, but also greater responsibility.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: obviously
Isn't a large part of the mayors job perception? He's got like 10 deputy mayors to do the day-to-day management of the city, his job is to make people "feel" like the city is working.
Again, I think people are trying to turn the mayor of New Yorks job into your every Dilberts job, and it's just not a fair comparison.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Solitaire vs Golf`
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Solitaire vs Golf`
Joking and dream jobs aside, the less restraint you enforce the more work you will see done, because without restraint there is a clearer perception of whats infront of you.
I work for a corperation and there are rules, like no porn, nothing illegal and such but in the grand scheme of things I clear just as much "REAL" work as well as alot of personal design and coding work from the same PC within work hours.
Now for some more dreams..
I think every office should look like googles ^_^ *drool*
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Solitaire vs Golf`
Now, having said that, I completely agree that as long as one is doing what is assigned to them, they should be left alone to manage their time as they please.
It's a bit like "innocent until proven guilty". Ideally, employees should be "innocent" at first, or allowed to self-manage. If they're found "guilty", or unable to manage their work time and accomplish their goals, they should be micro-managed or fired. However, for many, it's simply easier to assume guilt from the get go and lay down a ton of ground rules across the board. This takes MUCH less effort, as now you don't actually have to adjust to each individual's habits, as the responsiblity is on them to adjust to you instead. Much simpler, but a horrible work environment.
And finally, a nod to everyone's points on it also being based on PR value.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
No Subject Given
And anybody that claims that golf is not a recreational activity is lying thru their fucking teeth. Show me ONE deal ever that couldn't have happened if golf didn't exist. It's a perk for executives. Just like playing solitaire is a perk for a lowly peon that gets his job done and has some time to kill between running personal errands for his boss.
Makes me want to bitch slap somebody.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Solitaire vs Golf`
Like you said, some of the commentators are a bit naive to the way the real world works. You being one of those commentators.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Solitaire vs Golf`
If you don't like the fact that someone else can come along and rain on your solataire-playing parade then STOP playing solataire, START working harder, and get a promotion.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Its a social thing
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Its not a double-standard
Some jobs it is ok to play videogames, some jobs it is OK to play golf, some jobs neither is OK.
But there is not a fixed set of rules across positions, even in the same office - it is defined by your job description and agreements between employees and supervisors.
I expect a mayor to play golf with important people as part of his role - he is a *politician*, and maintaining important personal relationships is essential, especially for a New York mayor. Therefore, his boss, the electorate, allow him to play golf on the job.
However, if you have hired a less experienced person to do a specific task and have them on the clock, to require them not to play computer games at work is completely acceptable.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Solitaire vs Golf`
"Not a CEO", what in the heck was ws your point again?
BTW, no I'm not a CEO or a high-level manager, but I've worked in the corporate world for a good part of my career and my statements were based on the way things are, not the way I'd like them to be.
If you take a look at most of the comments here you'll see that most people have made the same observations so there must be a lot of naive people on this board.
BTW, yes, I would love to have a position one day where I could take clients out to lunch and make deals over golf, it's called aspirations, that's why some of us work so hard, to not be "lower rank/position", forced to abide by rules made by others. As my father always said theirs a reason why privates mop the floors that generals walk on.
[ link to this | view in thread ]